FREE WILL ASTROLOGY Week of January 12th

ARIES (March 21-April 19): The Sanskrit word tapasya is translated as "heat," but in the yogic tradition it means "essential energy." It refers to the practice of managing your life force so that it can be directed to the highest possible purposes, thereby furthering your evolution as a spiritual being. Do you have any techniques for accomplishing that — either through yoga or any other techniques? This would be a good year to redouble your commitment to that work. In the coming months, the world will just keep increasing its output of trivial, energy-wasting temptations. You'll need to be pretty fierce if you want to continue the work of transforming yourself into the Aries you were born to be: focused, direct, energetic, and full of initiative.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): "Live out of your imagination, not your history," says Stephen Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. While that's always true, it will be especially crucial for you to remember in 2012. This is the year you can transcend stale traditions, Taurus — a time when you can escape your outworn habits, reprogram your conditioned responses, and dissolve old karma. You will be getting unparalleled opportunities to render the past irrelevant. And the key to unlocking all the magic will be your freewheeling yet highly disciplined imagination. Call on it often to show you the way toward the future.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Comedian Steven Wright says his nephew has HDADD, or High Definition Attention Deficit Disorder. "He can barely pay attention, but when he does it's unbelievably clear." I'm predicting something like that for you in the coming week, Gemini. You will encounter more things that are dull than are interesting, but those few that fascinate you will awaken an intense focus that allows you to see into the heart of reality.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): As I contemplate the most desirable fate you could create for yourself, I'm reminded of a lyric from one of my songs: "We are searching for the answers / so we can destroy them and dream up better questions." Here's what I'm implying by that, Cancerian: This is not the right time for you to push for comprehensive formulas and definitive solutions. Rather, it's a favorable moment to draw up the incisive inquiries that will frame your quest for comprehensive formulas and definitive solutions. That quest is due to begin in two weeks. For now, raise your curiosity levels, intensify your receptivity, and make yourself highly magnetic to core truths.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): "A writer — and, I believe, generally all persons — must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource," said author Jorge Luis Borges. "All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art." I agree that this advice isn't just for writers, but for everyone. And it so happens that you are now in an astrological phase when adopting such an approach would bring you abundant wisdom and provide maximum healing. So get started, Leo: Wander through your memories, reinterpreting the difficult experiences as rich raw material that you can use to beautify your soul and intensify your lust for life.